A busy, busy week!

I'm sitting here at the computer obsessively checking everyone else's blogs, so I thought I'd go ahead and update in case anyone is doing the same to ours...

This past week we had a great visit with my Dad and my Grannie, both in from Florida for a week for Dad's PhD graduation from Regent University in Virginia. We ended up throwing him a very last-minute reception/open-house of sorts at our house... with the invitation emailed out just about 4 days prior! We bought way too much food at Sam's (thanks to Grannie!), set it all out on the dining room table, moved chairs so that people could actually make their way through the house, and then I sat back and prayed that it would be a celebration worthy of Dad's accomplishment. Mom had planned to do this graduation as a real party, and an open house for all of their supporters, Dad's professors and friends, and family and friends too. I was so relieved that a good number were able to come, and our little house was packed nearly to the walls with friends celebrating Dad and all the hard work he has done! Congrats again, Dad!

Last weekend, the juxtaposition of celebrating my first Mother-to-be Day right along with it being the first Mother's Day without my own Mom certainly didn't escape my notice, but we also managed to have a very pleasant Mother's Day, and it was really nice to have Dad in town for that as well. I really enjoyed standing up in church to be recognized with all the other Mothers, with a hand on my little belly to acknowledge the presence of our wee one-to-be!
(Look how chubby those preggers cheeks have gotten already... and maybe a bit of a belly? Hopefully this is just a bad angle, since it doesn't look like it but I've only gained 5 pounds so far!)

Matt set the bar high for future Mother's Days by waking me with doughnuts for breakfast in bed, which was followed by church, a late lunch with Jason, Alisa, Evan and Dad, then dinner with Matt's parents, Leanne, Sandy, Ansley, and Sandy's Mom Laverne (who is very sweet and like a third grandmother to us). Jason and Alisa ended up bringing Evan back to our house for a little while to kill some time between lunch and small group, and we got to enjoy seeing Papa (Dad) introduce him to Dad's favorite candy, "silver bells."
What Papa didn't know is how quickly Evan could pop those little suckers right in his mouth after he discovered all they needed was to be unwrapped! But of course, this sweet boy is happy to share with his Papa too.

Now we are settling back into what passes for a routine around here, and I'm enjoying a bit of relaxation with a lighter week at work. The best part of that is getting to sleep in/nap a bit... pregnancy is still making me really tired easily, and I'm hoping maybe it will be possible to store up some rest for those late nights and early mornings once the baby does get here!

On that note, a bit of an update on Baby B... I'm still doing really well here at the end of the 10th week. Two more weeks and my first trimester is done! Unbelievable! It seems like just a week or two ago we were trying to think of fun and creative ways to tell everyone. I can feel I'm getting a bit of a belly already, but I think it will take awhile until I look actually pregnant, not just like I've had a few too many trips to Goodberry's. Still no morning sickness though, and the crazy hunger I've had seems to be calming down a bit, which I'm trying to use as a reason to eat a bit healthier (in other words, no more dinners of tater tots and then curly fries). The cravings for any kind of potatoes and Juicy Juice fruit punch are still going strong... and I literally dream at night about chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel with the little biscuits and jelly on the side... mmm. That one may have to happen soon.